Areas of Interest

MoonDragon is a new miniatures game from a new company, New Dimension Games. The publisher's name
seems particularly apt, as their first game aims to take space miniatures literally
into the 3rd dimension (i.e., height).

The boxed set includes, among many other things, two pair of spacecraft miniatures
(manufactured by Rafm, though the manufacturer's
name does not appear on the blister pack).

Wardog

This ship is 4.3 cm long and 1 cm high, with a wingspan of 4.5 cm. The main hull looks
like a slightly squashed cylinder, which someone then sliced in half and slid apart. There's
a conventional fighter-jet-style nose cone and cockpit in front. Two stubby wings end in
cylinders which could be considered weapons or engine pods. There's a featureless protrusion
aft which might also be considered an engine exhaust. Details include frames or bulkheads in
the dorsal mid-hull bay, and a raised insignia on the right upper hull. The bottom of
each model includes a 7mm-diameter circular depression (where the flight stands will
eventually attach).

The overall impression is of a large, blocky ship of limited maneuverability. With the
exception of the insignia, the model is composed of simple shapes and surfaces which should
be easy for the novice to paint.

Both models had minor imperfections on the rear protrusion, which a bit of filing easily
took care of. One model also needed filing at the rear of one wing (a slightly misaligned seam). Both models had a pinprick in the right front hull - this was so minor I left it
as it was. The ends of the wing pods were a bit rough, and there were slight seams at the
rear of the pods, again corrected by careful file work.

Moondragon

This ship is 5.3 cm long and 1 cm high, with a wingspan of 4 cm. The forward fuselage
is egg-shaped with a cockpit and a forward-facing gun. A tapering cylinder leads back
from the pilot's module to the crescent-shaped wing; on the top is a "keel" fin, while
on the bottom are two cylinders (engines? torpedoes?) ending in exhausts. The wing is
curved to the rear; the bottom is featureless, but the top is crowned with two large
bullet-shaped structures without exhausts, two large fins in the middle of each wing,
and a large raised insignia on the right wing. Details include a prominent ridge on the
forward wing edges, a neck-and-collar on the main fuselage, and a rearward-facing gun at the center of the wing.
The model includes a recess for attaching
a flight stand.

The Moondragon has the baroque look of a ship inspired by the early days of science fiction. It looks fast but delicate. The basic shapes and lack of great detail should make this ship as easy to paint as the Wardog.

The two guns may need to be straightened - this can be accomplished with gentle pressure
from a flat surface (the back of a fingernail will do). One model had attachment stubs on
the wing edge and main cabin which were carefully cut off. The wingtips were rough, so
I brought them to a finer point with knife and file; one wingtip also needed to be
straightened. The front wings have a visible seam which I chose to leave as it was and
consider to be part of the real ship; I also chose not to smooth out some rough spots on
the main hull, due to the difficulty of working on the curved surfaces and the minor
degree of the flaws.